Mohammad Amir took the wicket of England captain Alastair Cook on his return to Test cricket following a five-year ban ©Getty Images That was the crux of the matter for some not that he had taken the money, but that he had proved he could be manipulated by corrupt puppet-masters lurking in the dark underworld of criminal betting. This is not an excuse for Amir the trap to show he was corruptible was set and he walked straight into it. The very essence of his conviction came as the result of a sting operation, conducted by the now defunct News of the World, which involved the notorious “Fake Sheikh”, later named as Mazher Mahmood, a man who had previous when it came to exposing illicit behaviour among sportspeople and politicians. He was sent to Feltham Young Offenders Institution, a notoriously difficult jail in Britain which has a pained reputation and where violent crime, racism and gang warfare are common. But was jail really justifiable? Did the time really fit the crime?Īfter all, Amir did not go to a plush minimum security prison where he could play his Playstation and enjoy unlimited hours in the yard. What he and his team-mates did was plain wrong, it went against everything we believe in when it comes to sport and they unquestionably deserved to be banned from cricket by the ICC. Yes, he corrupted his sport by accepting a bribe from Mazhar Majeed, who claimed to be the agent of the trio, and yes, he did so for personal financial gain. He is now a convicted criminal.Īnd for what? Bowling no balls during a game of cricket. Both arguments made their points well.īut what some have forgotten is the most blatant fact of them all - he went to jail. There are some that believe Amir has served his time, while others feel he should have been banned for life and banished into cricketing exile, never to return again. Mohammad Amir received a polite reception from the Lord's crowd when he stepped onto the field ©Getty Images A quick scour of the British national newspapers and television coverage provided by Sky Sports showed ex-professionals on either side of the fence. His mere presence back in the Pakistan team in the wake of his corrupt past split opinions across the cricketing fraternity. The cricket, in the eyes of many, was secondary to the theatre his entrance onto the stage was expected to provide.
The actions of Amir dominated the build-up to the Test series, which began on Thursday (July 13). Yet if there was ever a time for them to stray from the norm, it would have been yesterday, when Amir strode down the steps and onto the ground where he and two other Pakistani players - Salman Butt and Mohamad Asif - tarnished the name of cricket with their plot to bowl deliberate no-balls at pre-determined times during a Test match against the same opponents, England, six years previously. It’s fair to say champagne flows more freely than insults. The Lord’s faithful are renowned as a polite bunch who show little interest in public and unified displays of hate or disapproval for an opposition player. The crowd’s reaction as he walked out on the hallowed turf at the proclaimed Home of Cricket was as you would have anticipated for a number nine batsman. There were no boos or jeers as many thought there might be. The reception he received during his first Test appearance since that fateful August day at Lord’s was certainly not love, but nor was it vitriolic or nasty.
Nearly a year ago, Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir gave an interview in which he said he wanted to be loved again as he prepared to make a return from a five-year ban for his involvement in the infamous spot-fixing scandal of 2010.
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